Wave of violence claims 32 lives

PTI|

Dec 29, 2007, 12.50 AM IST

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KARACHI: At least 32 people, including a PML (Q) candidate, were killed as violence raged on Friday in several Pakistani cities following Ms Bhutto’s assasination, prompting authorities to deploy the army and issue ‘shoot-to-kill’ orders. Angry Bhutto supporters went on a rampage looting banks, torching vehicles and an office of president Pervez Musharraf backed PML (Q) party, burning railway stations and clashing with police in Sindh, Ms Bhutto’s home province which was worst affected by the violence.

Army had been deployed in sensitive areas of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, the hometown of the slain former prime minister, Dadu and Rohri to prevent more loss of lives and damage to public and private property, Sindh’s home secretary Mohammad Mohtaram said. He said 23 people including four security officials were killed in the riots.

Also, nine persons were killed and several others injured in an explosion near an election rally in Pakistan’s restive north-western Swat valley. Former provincial minister Asfandyar Amirzaib, who is contesting the upcoming polls on a PML (Q) ticket, was among those killed when his vehicle was targeted with an explosive device in Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district.

Announcing a judicial inquiry into Ms Bhutto’s killing, caretaker premier Mohammad Mian Soomro appealed for calm. “The death of mohtarma benazir bhutto is a national tragedy and enemies of the country are now trying to instigate the people to violence and instability,” he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting reviewed the situation.

Six people suffocated to death when a violent mob set a state owned bank on fire in Khairpur town in the interior of the Sindh province. Three PPP workers who were killed during a clash with police at Dadu in the same province. Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city remained shut on Friday with the streets deserted while mobs looted three banks before setting them on fire.

In the first major protests in Islamabad, ppp workers gathered for funeral prayers for Ms Bhutto near the parliament house and clashed with police personnel.

S&P may downgrade Pakistan: International rating agency Standard & Poor’s has said that it may downgrade Pakistan following assassination of Ms Bhutto. The incident has ‘precipitated heightened levels of violence and political turmoil’. In a statement issued from Singapore, S&P said that Pakistan already has a negative outlook on its foreign currency rating of B+.

“The death of former PM Bhutto is a significant blow to Pakistan’s transition to democratic rule. It therefore casts doubts on whether general elections scheduled for January 8, 2008, will proceed, while violent reactions by supporters could potentially spark escalating civil disorder” the rating agency said.

According to the rating agency, the prevailing negative outlook on the ratings on Pakistan encapsulates to a large extent risks to the political process, including attempts on the life of political leaders after a number of such incidents in the past. Hence, the assassination in itself will not result in a rating action. But, a further weakening of Pakistan’s institutions, in conjunction with rising levels of violence and disorder, and the postponement of the January 8 elections would lead to a rating downgrade.

A prolonged political stalemate or social disorder would make the rating vulnerable, primarily from an external liquidity and fiscal angle. Foreign direct investment and portfolio flows would likely decline, negatively affecting Pakistan’s external liquidity position, given its large current account deficit of about 4.8% of GDP.

In parallel, the sovereign may encounter increasing difficulty in refinancing its external and domestic debt, as lenders’ risk aversion toward Pakistan increases. In addition, fiscal slippages may arise, pushing deficits beyond the government’s target 4% of GDP, and jeopardising the currently favourable debt trajectory. In the short term, however, a potential escalation of violence and wide scale social upheaval could impair the sovereign’s administrative capacity and interfere with its day-to-day operations.